Atomic Alert!: Confronting ‘The Bomb’ in the New Atomic Age Exhibit Opens Sept. 7
July 16, 2024
![Atomic Age exhibition graphic](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=eeff39c4b025f979aa2e54dfb207bdf9 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=2c5782155f1b584c0e9c756974f3ff12 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=44e4bcddfcc6295ef99429d9d6ace9ce 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=29e93548a74747e50b335698bd26b56f 1024w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=fba7fd0d8e24d382f05fb2e762b28da0 1200w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/451136247_1011869197610044_4586326927905161327_n.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=57ed1034e96e3331eed9bce5e1b76d82 1280w)
Atomic Alert!: Confronting ‘The Bomb’ in the New Atomic Age, a free traveling exhibition designed by Overland Traveling Exhibits, opens Sept. 7 at the Two Mississippi Museums and will be on display through Nov. 8. The exhibition explores the history of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) established to prepare Americans for the perils of the new Atomic Age.
In August 1945, in the waning days of World War II, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on cities in Japan. Four years later, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic weapon, and the Cold War began. Nuclear testing made its way to Mississippi through the detonation of two nuclear devices outside of Hattiesburg. The first test, Project Salmon, occurred in October 1964 and, roughly two years later, Project Sterling followed, which used a smaller bomb in the cavity left behind by the first blast.
“The Two Mississippi Museums are excited to share this free, special exhibit,” said Michael Morris, director of the Two Mississippi Museums. “We welcome the public to explore and learn about Mississippi’s role in nuclear testing during the Atomic Age.”
The exhibition puts a special focus on the educational and volunteer programs of the FCDA, which encouraged the building of bomb shelters, the establishment of neighborhood wardens, and taught children to “duck and cover.” Atomic Alert! includes a striking artistic interpretation of the impact of a nuclear blast, featuring the silhouette of a bomb roughly the size and shape of the bombs dropped in World War II.
Visitors can immerse themselves in the era with Mississippi artifacts that tell the story of the state’s response to nuclear threat, including stocking civil defense hospital supplies. Other exhibit artifacts include a Geiger counter used to detect ionizing radiation on objects at ground level and a booklet that instructed families who did not have designated shelters on how to construct a shelter within their home.
Atomic Alert!: Confronting ‘The Bomb’ in the New Atomic Age programming includes two free History Is Lunch programs on Sept. 25 and Oct. 9 and two free gallery talks on Oct. 10 and Oct. 22.
Atomic Alert! was developed, designed, built, and toured by Overland Traveling Exhibits and independent Atomic Age scholar Michael Scheibach. Founding institutions for the exhibition include the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County in Moorhead, Minnesota.
For more information, go to 2mm.mdah.ms.gov/atomic-alert or call 601-576-6850.